Somali PM appoints election advisors as time running out

The outgoing Somali Federal Government is set to hold troubled national elections by the end of July 2021.

News Keydmedia Online
9 June 2021

MOGADISHU, Somalia - As Somalis are running out of time to vote in less than two months, the country's Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble is trying his best to hold an inclusive election in a peaceful way.

The PM's office announced on Tuesday night that Roble has appointed a senior technical election support team made up of seven advisors who are tasked with coordination and facilitation of a smooth implementation of the indirect vote.

Prime Minister Roble picked his former coworker at International Labour Organization [ILO] Abdulkadir Elmi to lead the team that will facilitate the 2021 election process and donor funds and cooperation between the Federal and State level electoral bodies.

Somalia has faced its worst political crisis in history during the 4-year presidency of Farmajo which last April turned into violence when the incumbent extended his mandate two more years unconstitutionally. 

The move led the army to split into two rival sides - one supporting the opposition and the other for Farmajo and engaged in a fierce gun battle in Mogadishu that forced 60,000-100,000 to flee their houses.

The long-chaotic Horn of Africa country missed a second deadline for legislative and presidential elections planned before the end of the president's term in February of this year.

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